Assessment
Ready for a Change? These 3 Steps May Help
Looking inward may help you gain clarity
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Do you feel stuck in a rut? What if you could get out of autopilot mode and forge a new path? Truth is, you can. Often, the hard part is figuring out how to break free from your existing routines and patterns.
Making time for relaxing, contemplative activities — such as walking meditation, restorative yoga and journaling — may help you connect with your deeper feelings and begin mapping out the life you want to live. Consider these three ways to get off the mundane merry-go-round so your dreams can take shape.
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1. Practice walking meditation
The idea behind walking meditation is to move slowly while paying attention to your senses and surroundings — from chirping birds or the hum of a passing city bus to the way your feet hit the ground. It’s a mindfulness practice, and the goal is to help you stay in the present moment without judgment.
By quieting the mind, walking meditation and other mindfulness practices can help you observe situations rather than react to them, says Sara Lazar, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Mindfulness can also promote “fluid intelligence,” which helps people solve problems in new, creative ways, according to research by Lazar and others.
Classes such as Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, or MBSR, are great ways to learn walking meditation and other forms of mindfulness practice, Lazar says. “Start with 10 or 15 minutes,” she suggests. “Set an intention of staying in the present moment … focusing on your direct experience, rather than planning your day or rehashing a conversation you had earlier.”
Mindfulness practice has also been linked to lower levels of perceived stress in many studies, including one involving 830 adults, mean age of 50, reported in 2024 in Frontiers in Psychology.
2. Try restorative yoga to release tension
Restorative yoga, a practice that uses foam blocks, bolsters and other props to support the body, can help you feel calm and clear-headed. With each pose, pay attention to your breath, especially the exhale because it connects the mind to the body, says Colorado-based yoga instructor Kerry Temple-Wood. “The long, deep exhale tends to settle you into your body and helps shift the mind out of autopilot,” she explains. Slow breathing may lead to changes in the nervous system that lead to feelings of relaxation and better resilience to stress, according to a review of six studies of adults ages 18 to 60 published in 2025 in Acta Neurologica Belgica.
A gentle pose known as Legs Up the Wall suits people of nearly any fitness level, Temple-Wood says. Start by lying on your back perpendicular to a wall, on a towel or yoga mat. Stretch your legs up the wall, scooting your buttocks and hips as close to the wall as you can while remaining comfortable. Close your eyes and breathe slowly, letting your belly rise on each inhale and fall on each exhale. Stay in the pose for 10 minutes, or however long is comfortable. Holding this and other gentle, restorative poses can help relieve tension because you’re “not pushing muscles beyond what they’re able or ready to do,” she notes.
3. Start a journal to reveal your thoughts and desires
Find some of your favorite pens and a blank notebook to record your thoughts and emotions. Writing about deeper thoughts and feelings can help ease symptoms of depression, anxiety and stress, according to a meta-analysis of 31 studies involving 4,012 total participants published in the British Journal of Clinical Psychology in 2022.
Journaling can also help you discover ideas. “Writing and using a pen gives the subconscious mind a vehicle to find inner expression, versus the rational mind that says, ‘I should do this,’ ” Temple-Wood says. Journaling often provides you with “reflections and kernels of truth” or “hidden gems,” she adds. Be on the lookout for ideas about new paths, such as making relationship changes or pursuing career yearnings that nourish your soul.
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